James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond (1392 – 22 August 1452) was the son of James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond and Anne Welles. He was called The White Earl and esteemed for his learning. He was the patron of the Irish literary work, 'The Book of the White Earl

The Book of the White Earl

The Book of the White Earl is an Irish religious and literary miscellany created c. 1404–1452.The Book of the White Earl, now Bodleian Laud Misc. MS 610, consists of twelve folios inserted into Leabhar na Rátha, aka The Book of Pottlerath. It was created by Gaelic scribes under the patronage...

'. His political career was marked by a bitter feud with the Talbot family.

Career

He prevailed upon Henry V

Henry V of England

Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....

 to create a King of Arms

King of Arms

King of Arms is the senior rank of an officer of arms. In many heraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings. In other traditions, the power has been delegated to other officers of similar rank.-Heraldic duties:...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, by the title of Ireland King of Arms

Ireland King of Arms

Ireland King of Arms was the title of an officer of arms to the King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1392 until the accession of Henry VII as King of England in 1485. A king of arms is the highest of the three levels of officers of arms, and usually enjoys heraldic jurisdiction over a...

 (altered by Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

 to Ulster King of Arms), and he gave lands forever to the Heralds’ College, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. He was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland

Lord Deputy of Ireland

The Lord Deputy was the King's representative and head of the Irish executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and later the Kingdom of Ireland...

 in 1405, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland was the British King's representative and head of the Irish executive during the Lordship of Ireland , the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...

 in 1420, 1425, and 1442.His term as Lord Lieutenant was marked by a bitter feud with the Talbot family, represented by John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury

John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford KG , known as "Old Talbot" was an important English military commander during the Hundred Years' War, as well as the only Lancastrian Constable of France.-Origins:He was descended from Richard Talbot, a tenant in 1086 of Walter Giffard...

 and his brother Richard Archbishop of Dublin

Archbishop of Dublin

The Archbishop of Dublin may refer to:* Archbishop of Dublin – an article which lists of pre- and post-Reformation archbishops.* Archbishop of Dublin – the title of the senior cleric who presides over the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin....

.The dispute reached its height in 1442 when Archbishop Talbot, supposedly on behalf of the Irish Parliament, presented the Privy Council with a long list of grievances against Ormonde, who was accused of being old and feeble, and of having lost most of his Irish estates through negligence; there were vague references to treason and other crimes which could not be named. The Council felt obliged to summon Ormonde who defended himself vigorously. The Council took no action against him but rebuked both sides of the dispute severely for disrupting the good governance of Ireland.Friendly relations were finally established by the marriage of Ormonde's daughter to Shrewsbury's son and heir. Ormonde remained an influential figure although his last years were troubled by quarrels with the Earl of Desmond

Earl of Desmond

The title of Earl of Desmond has been held historically by lords in Ireland, first as a title outside of the peerage system and later as part of the Peerage of Ireland....

 and with Giles Thornden, the Treasurer of Ireland.
In 1440 he had a grant of the temporalities of the See of Cashel

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in mid-western Ireland. The diocese is in the secular province of Munster. The Diocese of Cashel was established in 1111 by the Synod of Rathbreasail and promoted to the status of a Metropolitan Province in 1152 by the...

 for ten years after the death of the Archbishop of Cashel

Archbishop of Cashel

The Archbishop of Cashel is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name after the town of Cashel, County Tipperary in Ireland. The title is still in use in the Roman Catholic Church, but in the Church of Ireland it was downgraded to a bishopric in 1838....

, Richard O'Hedian.
He built the castles of Nenagh

Nenagh

Nenagh is the county town of North Tipperary in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of North Tipperary and in 2011 it had a recorded population of 7,995. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ormond Lower...

, Roscrea

Roscrea

Roscrea is a small heritage town in North Tipperary, Ireland. The town has a population of 4,910. Its main industries include meat processing and pharmaceuticals. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Ikerrin...

 and Templemore

Templemore

Templemore is a town in North Tipperary, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the historical barony of Eliogarty. It is part of the Roman Catholic parish of Templemore, Clonmore and Killea....

 in north Tipperary and Tulleophelim (or Tullowphelim) in County Carlow

County Carlow

County Carlow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Carlow, which lies on the River Barrow. Carlow County Council is the local authority for the county...

. He gave the manor and advowson of Hickcote in Buckinghamshire to the Hospital of St. Thomas D'Acres in London, which was confirmed by Parliament (in the third year of Henry VI) at the suit of his son.

He died at Ardee on 23 August 1452 on his return from an expedition against Connor O'Mulrian, and was buried in St. Mary's Abbey near Dublin.

Marriage and issue

He married firstly, in 1413, Joan Beauchamp

Joan Butler, Countess of Ormond

Joan Butler , 4th Countess of Ormond was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman, the first wife of Irish peer, James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormond, and the mother of his five children...

, who was the daughter of William Beauchamp, 1st Baron Bergavenny

William Beauchamp, 1st Baron Bergavenny

William de Beauchamp, 1st Baron Bergavenny, KG was an English peer.A younger son of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick and Katherine Mortimer, he was summoned to Parliament on 23 July 1392 as "Willilmo Beauchamp de Bergavenny", by which he is held to have become Baron Bergavenny.- Marriage...

 and Lady Joan FitzAlan. She died on 3 August 1430 and was buried in the Hospital of St. Thomas D'Acres. They had issue:

• James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond (1420–1461), married twice, but no issue.
• John Butler, 6th Earl of Ormond (died 1478), unmarried.
• Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond (c.1426- 1515), who married firstly, Anne Hankford
  Anne Hankford
  Anne Hankford was the first wife of Thomas Butler, 7th Earl of Ormond . She was the great- grandmother of Queen consort Anne Boleyn- Family and lineage :...
  
  . They had two daughters. They were ancestors to Anne Boleyn
  Anne Boleyn
  Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
  
  . He married, secondly, Lora Berkeley and had another daughter.
• Elizabeth Butler (b. b 1432-1473), married with John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
  John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury
  John Talbot, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury, 2nd Earl of Waterford, 8th Baron Talbot, KG was an English nobleman and soldier. He was the son of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Maud Nevill, 6th Baroness Furnivall...
  
  , son of General John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
  John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury
  John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and 1st Earl of Waterford KG , known as "Old Talbot" was an important English military commander during the Hundred Years' War, as well as the only Lancastrian Constable of France.-Origins:He was descended from Richard Talbot, a tenant in 1086 of Walter Giffard...
  
   and Maud de Neville, Baroness Furnivalle and had issue. Elizabeth died on the Saturday after the nativity of the Virgin Mary in 1473.
• Anne Butler, who died unmarried.

The Earl married secondly, in 1432 , Lady Joan FitzGerald daughter of 5th Earl of Kildare. She died 6 August 1452, a few days before the Earl, and he had no issue by her.